Arab Strap: The Last Romance

admin on Dec 20th 2005

Ostentatiously Scottish, Arab Strap’s “The Last Romance” is a harrowingly open insight into the bleak realities of dead-end relationships, meaningless sex, and drug-induced mid-week slumps. Not the most gifted vocalist or creative melodicist, Aidan Moffat’s lyrics often sound simply like spoken poetry, absorbing the focus of all the attention and virtually rendering the music secondary.

Although one could just as easily perceive the hard rain of Arab Strap’s misery as either uncomfortably revealing or refreshingly direct, whichever way it strikes you, make no mistake – this does not make for easy or instantly accessible listening. In fact, it’s hard to believe that this is the same musician behind the serene, instrumental hypnotics of Lucky Pierre – a soundscape that now seems its polar opposite…a place far, far away from here.